Exactly as it had been.
The Doctor remained in the doorway while his eyes moved across every detail. The books, the clothes, the equations, and the small electronic game sitting on the desk. Everything was preserved. Everything was waiting. It was impossible because the room had been archived.
He remembered doing it. Not immediately. He hadn’t been able to do it immediately. For several weeks after Adric’s death, the room had remained untouched. Tegan had wanted it left alone. Nyssa had never said what she wanted. Eventually the Doctor had come here by himself. He had stood exactly where he stood now and instructed the TARDIS to archive the room. Not destroy it. He couldn’t bring himself to use that word. Just remove it.
The Doctor stepped inside.
“It’s a reconstruction. That’s all. Archived architectural memory. The TARDIS retains templates of previous configurations. Perfectly reasonable.” He picked up one of the sheets from the desk. Equations. Adric’s handwriting. The Doctor stared at them.
“No,” he put the paper down quickly. “This isn’t funny.”
The lights flickered, and the Doctor turned towards the doorway. The corridor remained outside, empty and silent. He looked back at the bed and saw something lying upon the pillow.
A gold star.
The Doctor stopped breathing.
Adric’s badge.
3
He didn’t approach it. For a long moment, he simply stared. Then he forced himself forward, one step and then another. His hand hovered over the badge.
“Doctor?”
He spun around. Nobody was there. The voice had come from the corridor.
“Adric?” The Doctor hurried through the doorway. The corridor was empty.
“Adric!” His voice echoed away from him, and then there was silence.
He began walking faster.
“Adric!” Nothing. He reached a junction and hesitated between left and right. Something moved to his right, a figure disappearing around the corner. The Doctor ran.
“Wait!” He turned the corner and found another empty corridor, but this time a door stood open ahead.
The Doctor slowed. The room beyond was dark.
“Adric?” No answer. He stepped inside, and the lights came on.
The Doctor froze.
It was a console room, but not his console room. Dark wooden panels surrounded a squat central console. Brass fittings gleamed beneath the low light, and a battered hat rested on a chair. The Doctor stared at it. He knew that hat.
He crossed the room slowly.
4